Pumpkin Patch Family Photos at Dull’s Pumpkin Harvest

Some people enjoy fall. Some of us see the first pumpkin display at Target in August and think, FINALLY, my time has come! If that sounds suspiciously like your family, Dull’s Pumpkin Harvest is one of my favorite places to go completely overboard with it. There are pumpkins stacked everywhere, old barns, farm equipment, pumpkin fields, gourds in colors I did not know gourds came in, and enough space for your kids to wander around without me asking them to stand beside the same tree for the next hour.

The Schultens were MADE for this one. I have photographed Jill, Andrew, and Finn for three years now, and Jill’s answer when I asked about their perfect family day has not changed. They want to be outside hiking, fishing, swimming, playing, and generally finding something to do together. Finn was three and a half for these photos, had a big imagination and a goofy sense of humor, and was not lacking for places he needed to be. Basically, put that kid in a pumpkin patch and send him on his way.

Fall Family Photos at Dull’s Pumpkin Harvest in Thorntown, Indiana

Dull’s is one of those locations where I do not have to work very hard to keep a little kid interested because the farm handles a lot of that for me. Finn could sit in the giant pumpkin display for a minute, wander over to the equipment with Andrew, go investigate something else, come back to Jill, and eventually burn off whatever remained in his three-year-old battery by hauling ass through the pumpkin field. That makes Dull’s especially good for the family who looks at a traditional photo session and immediately thinks, “There is no freaking way my kid is standing there for an hour.” Correct, they probably are not, and I am very okay with that.

One of the reasons I wrote my giant list of 35 family photo session ideas was to get families thinking beyond the default park-and-field situation. There are kids who will give me so much more when I put them somewhere they can DO something, whether that means a pumpkin patch, creek, backyard, fair, ice cream stop, or somewhere else that already sounds fun to them.

Finn had tractors, pumpkins, wagons, fields, and an entire farm to inspect. He was plenty busy.

Pumpkin Patch Family Photos Are Pretty Great When Your Kid Has Places to Be

Parents tell me all the time that they are worried their kid will not cooperate for photos. The thing is, three-year-olds did not sign the photography contract. They have no idea what you paid me, they do not care about the Christmas card, and whatever speech you gave them in the car about smiling nicely has probably already left the building. This is why I plan around the kid I am getting instead of the imaginary child who is going to stand quietly with excellent posture and make gentle eye contact with my camera for sixty minutes. Finn wanted to move, so we moved with him. Sometimes he was off exploring with Andrew, sometimes he came back to Jill, and sometimes he let me put him exactly where I wanted him for about six seconds before remembering he had more important pumpkin business.

I can do quite a lot with six seconds.

If the kid-behavior portion of family photos is currently living rent-free in your head, go read How to Prepare Kids for Family Photos Without Stress. There are absolutely ways to set everyone up for a better evening, but mostly I want your kids fed, rested to the degree that parenthood allows, and NOT arriving after a thirty-minute hostage negotiation about how they had better smile. Bring snacks, tell them we are going to play, and let me take it from there.

Three Years With the Schultens

This is the part of repeat family sessions that gets me every time. Jill said she was most excited for updated photos because she loves seeing how much Finn changes from year to year, and I get a front-row seat for that too. When you see your kid every day, the changes sneak up on you. Then somebody sends you a photograph from two years ago and suddenly you are staring at the tiny round face they used to have wondering who authorized all this growing.

Finn is still very much little here, but he is also becoming this whole PERSON. He has opinions, jokes, a giant imagination, and a great memory. Based on this gallery, he also has a strong commitment to cowboy boots and running directly away from wherever the adults happen to be standing. Jill and Andrew had some pretty big things happening too. They met at the University of Evansville almost fourteen years before this session and had just celebrated their tenth wedding anniversary in June. Andrew also graduated from the fire department training academy that same month.

So while yes, we needed the updated pictures of Finn, I also wanted Jill and Andrew together without their child. Parents are notoriously good at spending years documenting the kids while slowly disappearing from every photo themselves, and ten years married is a pretty damn good reason to fix that.

Yes, We Still Get the Grandma Shot

Jill came with a short list of the combinations she cared about: Finn by himself, Finn with each parent, the whole family, and Jill and Andrew together. I love knowing those things because I am never going to make you choose between the classic family portrait and all the weird, funny, snuggly stuff happening around it. I know the grandma shot is important- but the other stuff, the in between climbing on pumpkins, hanging on dad’s neck stuff… that’s the best. I always aim to get both.

I call the everyone-looking-at-me photo the Grandma Shot because Grandma wants the damn photo. Frankly, so do I. The one where I can see everybody’s face, nobody is licking anything questionable, and we have documented that all members of the family were present and accounted for. Once I know we have it, everybody can loosen up. Finn gets to climb on his parents, Jill gets her boy, Andrew gets to mess with him, somebody says something ridiculous, and eventually the kid tries to escape. That is where the rest of the gallery comes from.

Why Dull’s Pumpkin Harvest Is One of My Favorite Fall Family Photo Locations

Dull’s gives me a stupid amount of variety. We have the huge pumpkin displays, rustic barns, farm equipment, wagons, tucked-away little spots, and the pumpkin field itself. I can change the look of the gallery several times without putting everybody back in the car or taking your toddler on a half-mile nature hike in brand-new boots.

It is also why I love locations that already have some personality built in. My Indiana State Fair family session works for the same reason, even though visually it could not be more different. At the fair, there are carnival games, rides, lights, and snacks everywhere. Here we have tractors, pumpkins, barns, and a field to run through. Either way, your kids have something to talk about besides me. If this post is making you realize that you want something fun for your family photos but pumpkins are not necessarily your entire personality, definitely go dig through those 35 family photo session ideas. There are a LOT of ways we can make your session yours, and I will never be offended if your family would rather eat ice cream than frolic poetically in a field.

Honestly, same.

I’m a Preferred Photographer at Dull’s

There is also a logistical piece here that makes Dull’s a pretty special option for my families. Dull’s only allows its preferred photographers to hold professional sessions on the property, and I am on that list. When you book your Dull’s session with me, there is no extra location fee added for photographing here. That is excellent news if your Pinterest board has slowly turned into pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins, one sweater, pumpkins.

I also know the farm, which sounds like a small thing until you are standing in a big location with a toddler whose willingness to participate currently has an expiration time. I know where I want to start, which areas are worth using, how to get variety without marching everybody all over creation, and where I want us to end up when the light starts getting good. We can spend the session taking pictures instead of me looking around, wondering where the hell we should go next. You can also see Dull’s current professional photography information on their official photography page.

Full Pumpkin Patch Session or Pumpkin Patch Mini?

If you are reading this thinking, “Lauren, I want the pumpkins, but do I need the whole thing?” the answer is maybe. The Schultens did a full family session, which gave us time for Finn to explore, plenty of different groupings, several areas around the farm, individual portraits, Jill and Andrew together, and the pumpkin field once the light got good. A full session gives me room to follow your family around, give kids time to warm up, and let the evening breathe a little.

If you mostly want updated pictures, pumpkins, and everybody finished before your toddler realizes the emergency fruit snacks are in your bag, I also offer Pumpkin Patch Mini Sessions at Dull’s. They are short, fast, and perfect for families who want the fall look without needing the whole evening. My 2026 Pumpkin Patch Minis are part of my Fall Mini Sessions in Central Indiana, along with several other locations if you want the season without committing quite this hard to gourds.

Full session, we wander. Mini session, we MOVE.

And Then I Come Back to Dull’s for Christmas

Give me a couple of months and I will be right back here, except all the pumpkins are gone and we have moved on to Christmas trees. Dull’s is also home to my tree farm sessions, so apparently a significant portion of my professional life involves wandering around this farm while Indiana changes seasons around me.

If you are already mentally skipping past Halloween and thinking about holiday cards, go read my Guide to Christmas Tree Farm Photo Sessions in Indiana. Those sessions have a completely different look, but families love them for a lot of the same reasons. There is already a tradition attached to the place, the kids have something recognizable to interact with, and we get photos while we are there. Pumpkins in fall, evergreens for Christmas. Could be worse.

What to Wear for Pumpkin Patch Family Photos

The Schultens nailed the clothes here. Jill wore that burnt orange cardigan with denim, Andrew brought in rust, brown, and mustard, and Finn broke things up with blue denim and little touches of warm orange. Nobody matched, everybody worked together, and nobody appeared to have been forced into a beige sweater against their will. Pumpkin patches already have a lot of orange happening, so I like bringing in warm earth tones, denim, muted blues, cream, olive, camel, chocolate brown, mustard, and richer neutrals. Texture looks SO good in the fall too, especially denim, corduroy, chunky knits, flannel, and boots.

The other thing I care about is whether you can move in it. I am probably going to have you walk, you may sit somewhere, and your child may demand to be carried seventeen minutes after announcing they are a BIG KID and do not need to be carried anymore. If you love Jill’s colors but have no idea how to turn one cute cardigan into clothing for an entire family, I made you a whole family photo outfit color palette guide. Please use it before you open seventeen browser tabs and decide your husband now needs mustard pants. (He probably doesn’t.

Ending the Session in the Pumpkin Field

We saved the actual pumpkin field for the end because that is when the light was worth waiting for. Finn had room to run, Jill and Andrew could walk with him, and the sun had dropped enough to give us that gorgeous low fall light across the pumpkins. By this point, Finn knew what we were doing, Jill and Andrew were settled in, and nobody was wondering whether they were standing correctly. We could work our way through the field and see what happened without resetting everybody every thirty seconds.

I still step in when I need to. I am going to find the good light, pull people together, move a hand, fix a weird shirt situation, and make sure we get what we came for. I also know when to leave everybody alone for ten seconds because sometimes that is all I need.

Why I Keep Telling Parents to Take the Damn Family Photos

Jill has brought Finn back to me for three years because she wants to see him grow, and that is reason enough. Your family does not need to hit some major milestone before you are allowed to document it. Maybe nobody graduated, nobody turned one, and nobody lost a tooth. You all just got another year older together. Somehow, that is the part that disappears the fastest.

Finn is not going to remember what he was like at three and a half. He will know because Jill and Andrew tell him, because there are stories, and because there are photos of his tiny cowboy boots running through a pumpkin field while his parents chased him around. He will get to see how Jill looked at him, how Andrew played with him, and how all three of them fit together before he gets too big to scoop up. That is the stuff, and yes, I know we are talking about a pumpkin patch blog post, and I just made myself emotional.

Occupational hazard.

Ready for Your Own Pumpkin Patch Family Photos at Dull’s?

If you are the family who REALLY loves fall, Dull’s Pumpkin Harvest is hard to beat. Come with the kids, come with the boots, and come prepared for someone to become weirdly attached to one specific pumpkin. We will get the Grandma Shot, give your kids room to move, photograph all the stuff happening in between, and make damn good use of the fact that we are standing in the middle of pumpkin heaven.

If you want the whole evening, take a look at my Indianapolis family photography sessions. If you want the quick pumpkin fix, check out my Pumpkin Patch Minis at Dull’s. If you are already sold, send me a message and tell me you want the pumpkins. (I’ll know exactly what you mean.)

Frequently Asked Questions About Pumpkin Patch Family Photos at Dull’s

Where is Dull’s Pumpkin Harvest?

Dull’s Pumpkin Harvest is at Dull’s Tree Farm in Thorntown, Indiana. It is a great fall session option for families coming from Indianapolis, Carmel, Westfield, Zionsville, Noblesville, Sheridan, and the surrounding Central Indiana area.

Can any photographer take professional photos at Dull’s?

No. Professional sessions at Dull’s are limited to photographers on the farm’s preferred photographer list. The Heart Narrative is a preferred photographer at Dull’s, which means I can offer the farm as a location for my clients.

Do I have to pay an extra location fee for photos at Dull’s Pumpkin Harvest?

Nope. There is no additional Dull’s location fee when you book your family photography session here with The Heart Narrative. I have the contract with Dulls, you reap the benefit.

Can I book a shorter pumpkin patch mini session?

Yes. I offer Pumpkin Patch Minis at Dull’s on select fall dates. Minis are great if you want a smaller set of updated family photos, while a full session gives us more time to explore the farm, work through more family combinations, and let kids warm up at their own pace.

What should we wear for pumpkin patch family photos?

Warm earth tones, denim, cream, camel, rust, olive, muted blues, brown, and layered textures all photograph beautifully at Dull’s. Coordinate instead of matching everyone exactly, and wear shoes that make sense for walking around a working farm. My family photo outfit color palette guide has more examples if you need help getting started.

The Heart Narrative || Indianapolis Family Photographer

Photographer: Lauren Lewis || THE HEART NARRATIVE
Location: Dull’s Pumpkin Harvest, Thorntown, Indiana

Lauren Lewis is an Indianapolis lifestyle photographer specializing in family, newborn, maternity, milestone, senior, and cake smash photography. The Heart Narrative serves families throughout Indianapolis, Carmel, Westfield, Zionsville, Noblesville, Sheridan, Fishers, and the surrounding Central Indiana area.

Are you ready to book your family photos with me? Let’s do it!! I would love to photograph your people, whether we end up in a pumpkin field, splashing through a creek, hanging out at home, or doing something neither of us has thought of yet.

Fill out my contact form and let’s get your session secured. Want more ideas first? Dig through The Journal for family photo locations, outfit help, session inspiration, and more of the beautifully weird families I get to photograph.

Let’s marvel in your messy.